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MNDaily: Gopher Seniors Bond Through Adversity

As a team, their goal was to qualify for this year’s NCAA Tournament. Although it looks like they've fallen short of doing that, they may receive an invitation to the Women's National Invitation Tournament as consolation.

“It’s always disappointing that you didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. I’m a little sad about that,” said Annalese Lamke. “I think the team showed a lot of grit this season because we started 2-7 in non-conference, and finished .500. I think that shows how we fought a lot.”

Looking back on the season, the players agree their win over Syracuse was one of their proudest moments.

“I really loved the Syracuse game from this year. Everybody was in it to win it," said Kenisha Bell. "I think that was one of my best memories, everybody gave everything that they had. I’ve never seen the team so excited for a win, especially non-conference.”

The group has certainly come a long way. Neither Lamke, Kaposi nor Garrido Perez saw much playing time before this year. For them, it was a struggle to get over the mental hurdle of not playing in games.

“When I wasn’t getting a lot of playing time for some of the three years, sometimes it kind of felt like something I wished I could’ve gotten, or like I should be playing,” Lamke said. “Obviously, it’s a team sport, and everyone has a role on the team. Finding a way to know that my role on the team is positive, regardless of if it’s on the court or not; being able to push through and still work on everything even when you’re not getting the minutes on the court was difficult.”

...

Now both Garrido Perez and Kaposi are open to the possibility of continuing their careers by playing basketball overseas. Lamke is currently pursuing a master’s degree, and Bell hopes to be drafted into the WNBA.

“I want to enter the draft and hopefully go to the WNBA," Bell said. "If that works out, then great. If that doesn’t, I want to play overseas somewhere to keep this rolling, because I feel like I got a lot more in me."